


=Venom=

by JaeChaos88



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: F/M, Romance, Sex, Symbiote - Freeform, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:00:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23954245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaeChaos88/pseuds/JaeChaos88
Summary: Carlton Drake is dead and Eddie has moved on from the events that brought him Venom. Now an accomplished writer, he is trying to move forward with life just as Anne has with Dan. But he's a bachelor that comes with baggage and a lot of trouble...
Relationships: Dan Lewis/Anne Weying, Eddie Brock/Brie(OC)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

Eddie walks into the convenience store.

“What’s on the menu tonight?” Asks Venom.

“I don’t know I was kind of thinking some of those ham and cheese hot pockets.”

“Yummmm.” Hissed Venom.

He walks over to the refrigerator section and grabs a box of hot pockets and a coke. He turns around just as woman makes her way around the corner of the aisle and bumps into him.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize how fast I turned that corner.” She giggled embarrassed by the collision and brushes a strand of hair away from her glasses behind her ear.

“Yea, you were going a good bit over the speed limit.” Jokes Eddie.

“I hope I didn’t hurt you too bad.”

“Nah, no blood and no broken bones.”

“We are attracted to this one.” Says Venom. Eddie blushes slightly and looks down at his feet.

“Again, I’m sorry.” Says the woman, as she makes her way down a different aisle, careful to move slower this time.

“Ask her for her number.” Orders Venom.

“No, I’m not gonna just ask her for her number, I don’t even know who she is.”

“Her name then?”

“No.” Argues Eddie, trying not to make a scene as he talks to himself. He makes his way up to the register and pays for his items.

“Oh, no. Someone dropped their wallet.” The woman with the glasses picks it up.

“That looks like Eddie’s. He just left.” Says Ms. C, the owner.

The woman quickly stepped outside to see if she could catch him. She briefly looked around but he was gone.

“He doesn’t stay to far from here.” Informed Ms. C.

The woman opens the wallet and checked the address on his ID. It’s the same apartment building as hers, three blocks down.

“Knock knock.” Says Venom.

“Who’s there?” Says Eddie thinking it was a joke, just before a knock is made at his door. “You know for someone with such impeccable hearing you sure have a hard time hearing the alarm in the morning.”

“You need your beauty sleep.” Informs Venom.

Eddie opens the door slightly to find the woman from the store standing in the hallway.

“Hi. Sorry to bother you…”

“You follow me home?” Asks Eddie.

“No…I…You dropped this, at the store. I live on the 4th floor and figured I would just drop it back off.”

“Invite her in.” Encourages Venom.

“No.” Says Eddie, out loud.

“Sorry?”

“I mean, no, you don’t say. The fourth floor, huh? How is it up there? On the fourth floor?” Stumbles Eddie.

“You sound like you’re having a stroke.” Acknowledges Venom. “Why can’t you talk right?”

“It’s…fine…I guess.”

Eddie rubs his head wishing Venom would just shut up and the microwave dings. “I…I gotta go.”

“Yea, sure.” She says, walking away.

“Thanks again.” He says, holding up his wallet and starts to close the door. He decides on a whim to step out into the hall. “Hey, um…I didn’t get your name?”

“It’s Brie.” She says.

“Brie…” He murmurs. “I…I’m Eddie.” He waves before heading back inside.

The next day Eddie went to check his mailbox. He could hear Venom’s laugh echoing in his head. 

“What?” He asked before opening the door to the mailroom and seeing Brie.

“I could smell her.”

“That’s just creepy.” Mumbled Eddie under his breath.

“Says the guy standing in the doorway talking to himself.”

Brie glances over at Eddie and quickly looks away when he notices.

“Morning.” He says.

“Good morning.” She smiles.

“Ummm…you…you got something…right here on your face.” Eddie points to his cheek.

Brie holds up her hand to wipe it away and Eddie laughs. “You actually just made it worse.”

Brie looks at her hands and laughs at the ink on her fingers. “It’s ink.”

“Ink?” Asks Eddie opening his mailbox.

“I’m an artist. I’m sketching the illustrations for a comic book.”

“Really? Comic books? You into that kind of thing?”

“Yea. I am. But I do artwork for all kind of things, comics, children’s books, I’ve even done some animation as well.”

“That’s cool.” He admits.

“Take care.” She says grabbing her mail and leaving the mailroom.

“Strike two Eddie.” Says Venom. “Another opportunity missed to get ‘the digits’.”

“The digits? What is this the 90s?”

“Do you not like this one?”

“I don’t know. She’s pretty.”

“And has a great body…” Adds Venom. “Tasty.”

“Alright, alright.” Says Eddie waving his hands as if to get Venom out of his head.

“Your thoughts…not mine…”

“Her having a great body may have been mine but the tasty bit was all you my friend.” Eddie grabs his mail and heads out for his doctor’s appointment.

“Have you figured out if you can make it to the wedding yet?” Asked Dr. Dan.

“About that…I’m still trying to work my schedule out.”

“I know it’s weird, with Anne being your ex-fiance and all, but it would mean a lot to her, and a little to me, if you would come. I’d like to think we've all moved on with our lives and we’ve actually all become pretty good friends.”

“You should have let me eat him before he proposed, then we could have Anne to ourselves.” Informs Venom.

“Agreed.” Said Eddie to Dr. Dan, while at the same time agreeing with Venom.

“We’re hungry.” Said Venom on their way back home. “Let’s go find a bad guy.”

“We got food at home.”

“Bleh.”

There was a commotion up ahead as a man runs by and grabs a woman’s purse.

“Stop! He’s got my purse! That man just took my purse!” Shouted the woman.

Eddie ducked down an ally and just as the man ran by a long tentacle grabbed ahold of him and dragged him down the ally. A few people curiously peaked into the ally and watched the dumpster shake and rattle around. Eddie emerged moments later and handed the lady back her purse.

“Thank you…” Said the confused woman.

“Don’t mention it.” Said Eddie just before burping.

Brie was outside the apartment building fidgeting with her key card and an arm full of papers. A small breeze blew by and she struggled to keep all the pages from flying away. She dropped her key card and a small section of the stack she was carrying fell to the ground as she tried to retrieve them.

“Ugh.” She grunted.

“Looks like you got your hands full.” Said Eddie walking up the steps and helping her gather everything.

“These all yours?” He picked up one of the comic prints and looked it over.

“Yea.” She said.

“Let me help you with those.” Said Eddie taking the stack from her arms.

“Thanks.” Said Brie, opening the door to her apartment once they reach it. “You can just set them on that desk right there.” She gestured to an old wooden desk beside a drafting table. “Excuse my mess. I've been pretty busy.”

“They say the most creative minds have the most disorganized living spaces.” He said looking at the stacks of random sketches and canvas’. There were bottles of ink and paint everywhere, but the apartment looked more artistic than disastrous. He also noticed several moving boxes in the corner of the room.

“You just move in?”

“Yea, two weeks ago. I’m originally from Bakersfield.”

“What brought you to San Fran?”

“Work.” She hesitated.

“She’s lying.” Hissed Venom.

“Well, you look like you got a lot of work to get to.”

“Yea,” She huffed. “it’s going to be a long night.”

She walked Eddie to the door and thanked him one last time for carrying her belongings up.

“She’s lying.” Hissed Venom again in the elevator.

“And how do you know that?”

“I can hear it in her voice.”

“Yea, ok.” Said Eddie sarcastically.

That night he was sitting on the couch looking at the wedding invite for Anne and Dan. It was late, almost 11, when there was a knock at his door. He peaked through the peephole and saw Brie. Eddie opened the door slightly to greet her.

“Hey, I’m really sorry to bother you this late…” She cradled her arm.

“What happened to your arm?” He asked, taking notice of the bandage.

“It’s been a hell of a night. I left my window open and a couple of cats started fighting on the fire escape. Before I knew it they were in my apartment knocking my tea onto my laptop and frying the circuit board. The bigger one attacked me when I tried to remove it.” She pulled her hair behind her ear and took a deep breath. “I have to send off all the final drafts by tomorrow morning, is there anyway I can use your computer? I have everything backed up on here.” She held up an external hard drive.

“Yes! Tell her yes!” Demanded Venom. Eddie turned to look at his messy apartment.

“If I’m interrupting something…”

“No, I…uh…I just got out the shower. Just give me a minute to put some clothes on.” He lied.

“Of course, that would be preferable.” She blushed at her awkward she sounded. Eddie closed the door and a commotion could be heard inside the apartment as Venom quickly helped clean up. Eddie threw on a shirt and opened the door to let Brie in.

“I reeeaaally, appreciate this.” She said, following him over to his laptop.

“No problem. That cat got you pretty good.” He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Beer?”

“After my night? Definitely. The doctor at the hospital said it could have been a lot worse. Luckily, it wasn’t my drawing hand.”

Eddie handed her the beer and watched the images from her hard drive load into a cloud file.

“How long does it take you to do something like that? Illustrate a comic book.”

“Depends how long it is and how detailed they need it. This one took me a little over a month.”

“Wow.”

“What about you? You wrote a book not too long ago, exposing Carlton Drake.”

“Eh, that one practically wrote itself. I had it done in a little less than a month.”

“It’s a shame he died before reading it, it was a very good look into the life of a world renowned narcissist.”

Eddie smirked. “You read it?”

“Yea.”

Eddie and Brie lost track of time talking. First it was art and writing, then it was pop culture and journalism, then music and sports.

“Noooo, you can’t live in San Fran and still be a Yankees fan.” Laughed Brie. “It’s mandatory you change loyalty after moving here.”

“Is that right?”

“Yea. Next your going to tell me you’re a Pats fan.”

“Giants.”

“Cheers to that.” She says raising her second beer.

Brie gets a notification on her phone and notices the time says 1:36 am. “Geez, I didn’t realize it was that late.” She looks over to the laptop and sees her uploads are completed. She disconnects her external drive and closes the laptop.

“I’m sorry to keep you up so late.”

“It’s all good. Take care of that arm.” He walks her over to the door to see her out.

“What are you doing?” Asked Venom. “Ask her out!”

“It was nice talking to you. And thanks for the beer.”

“Maybe…we can do it again some time…maybe over lunch.”

“I’m free tomorrow.” She blushed.

“There’s a deli on 5th. I can swing by and we can walk on over.”

“Sure.”

Eddie nodded as a smile graced his lips, slightly relieved she accepted the offer as he closed the door.

“Yes!” Said Venom excitedly.

“You happy now?”

“Like you aren’t.”

“I mean…I’m good.”

“I am in your head Eddie. I can read your thoughts.”

“Let me explain privacy to you…”

Brie had just finished getting ready to have lunch with Eddie when he showed up. She didn’t want to look too dressy but didn’t want to look bummy either. Most of her causal clothes had paint and ink stains so she opted for a floral knee length dress with an attached jean jacket and some white low-cut canvas sneakers.

“Hey, you ready?” Asked Eddie when she opened the door.

“Yep, just finished up.” She grabbed a small handbag and they made their way down to the deli.

“You look really nice. I feel like I should have maybe put in a little more effort.” Said Eddie, who was wearing jeans, a Guns N’ Roses t-shirt, a leather jacket, and sneakers.

“No, you look good. You didn’t have to shave for me.” She joked, taking notice that he touched up his facial hair.

“It was getting a little itchy.” He joked, scratching his scruffy face.

Eddie was thankful Venom was quiet throughout most of their lunch, except when it came time to order. He changed his mind twice and ended up ordering 2 sandwiches to go, just so Venom would shut up about food.

Anne happened to walk in for a pickup order and saw Eddie sitting at the table with Brie.

“Eddie? Hey.” She said, coming over to say hi.

“Hey Anne, what are you doing here?”

“I was just picking up lunch.” She looked over at Brie and smiled. “Who is this?”

“Oh…uh…Anne, this I’d Brie, Brie this is Anne.”

“Nice to meet you.” Said Brie offering her hand.

“You too. I don’t want to interrupt your guys’ meal I just thought I would say hi. Eddie make sure you get back to Dan and I by Friday, we’ll need a final headcount by then.” She grabbed her food and then made her way back to work giving Eddie a discrete thumbs up as she walked by the window where they are seated.

“I’ll be right back.” Said Brie as she excused herself to the restroom.

“Her legs look delicious.” Said Venom as she walked away.

“Can you stop looking at her like a piece of meat, please.” Whispered Eddie.

“You are all meat.”

“And you are a parasite.”

Venom growled.

“Yea, doesn’t feel good being called names now does it.”

Brie came back just as the waiter brought over the tab and Eddie paid it.

“Oh, it was supposed to be separate.” She informed the man. He paused for a minute to hand Eddie back his card, but Eddie shooed him away.

“It’s fine, I got it.” He said as she grabbed for her purse. “It’s a lunch date. What would I look like having you pay on a date?”

Brie looked at Eddie as he rose to his feet. “Date?”

“Yea, just a friendly date, between friends, you know.” He smirked. The waiter brought back Eddie’s receipt and his to go sandwiches. Brie followed Eddie out of the deli as he held the door open for her.

“You know, if you wanted a date, you didn’t have to be so vague about it.” Brie grinned. “All you had to do was ask.”

“I told you.” Spoke Venom.

“I’ll remember that.” He smiled.

“So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?” Asks Brie when they reach her apartment.

“I wrecked my bike awhile back so I’m gonna go shop around for another. Kind of miss riding. What about you?”

“I think I’ll finish unpacking. Maybe enjoy some me time before working on my next project.”

“That’s cool.” Said Eddie lingering around. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yea…” She walks into her apartment, but before she closes the door gives him her number. “555-4136.”

“555-4136. I think we….I mean…I…I can remember that.”

She giggles and closes the door. Eddie was awkward, but it was cute. He didn’t come off as arrogant with a “bull in the China shop” kind of spirit, like he was portrayed as when he was a journalistic reporter. It had cost him his job on several occasions going after stories that involved powerful people, but he was a source of truth. Brie assumed with all he had been through and finally getting a foothold back in journalism after being vindicated following Carlton Drakes death, left him a little more humble and cautious about things in his life.

“We have the digits!” Exclaims Venom. “She likes us. This is why you should trust me more.”

“Correction, she likes me, she doesn’t know anything about you and let’s keep it that way for now.”

“Fine.” Agreed Venom. “Let’s go find us a bike…in black.”

“You got it.” Says Eddie while entering the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

Eddie found the bike he wanted and a couple days after buying it took it out for a joyride. He spotted Anne walking into a bridal shop and pulled over to follow her in.

“Can I help you, sir?” Asked the lady at the counter.

“No, I….” Eddie looked around and saw Anne in the back being handed a garment bag. He started to make his way over and the woman stopped him.

“Sir, this area is reserved for brides and their bridal parties.

“It’s okay.” Informed Anne noticing Eddie. “He’s fine.”

“I see you got your dress.” He said, nervously as he approached her.

“Yea, they just finished the alterations. What’s up?”

“I was just passing by and saw you, I figured I’d let you know…I…”

“We.” Growled Venom out loud.

Eddie cleared his throat. “We. Will be attending the wedding.”

Anne's eyes lit up. “Thank you.” She said giving him a big hug. “You don’t know how much it means to me having you there.”

“Ma'am I need you to try the dress on to make sure the alterations are correct.” Urges the associate.

Anne walks inside of the dressing room with the woman to help her into her dress. “Were you bringing anyone?”

“No.”

“You should. It would be less awkward for you.”

“I’m going to my ex-fiance's wedding. How would it look bringing a plus one?”

“Like you’ve moved on, like I have.” Anne steps out of the dressing room and Eddie watches as she walks over to view herself in the mirror. It was only a year ago when he thought she would be walking down the aisle to marry him in a dress like that.

“What about that girl you had lunch with the other day? Brie? She was cute.”

Eddie laughs off the idea. “She’s just a girl I met that stays on the floor above me.”

Anne gives him a look. “You really expect me to believe that? It’s your call Eddie, but I don’t think it would hurt to bring someone other than, you know who.”

When Eddie gets back to his place, he tosses his keys and wallet on the counter and puts a tray of tater tots in the oven.

“Call her.”

“Later.”

“Now.”

“Later.”

“Now.” Demands Venom, extending a symbiotic arm over to his phone and holding it up to his ear. Eddie grabs the phone and rolls his eyes.

“Okay, okay.” He dials Brie half hoping she doesn’t answer, but does on the 2nd ring.

“Hello?”

“Hi…Brie…it’s….it’s Eddie.”

“Hey Eddie, what’s up?”

“Oh, nothing much just hanging around the house.”

“How did your bike shopping go?”

“Good. I found one the same day. You should let me take you for a ride some time, next time you’re free.”

“Would that be another date?” She spun around in her drafting chair playfully.

“It could be. I actually wanted to know…I have a friend who’s getting married in a couple of weeks…”

“The one from the deli?”

“Yea, and I just feel kind of awkward going by myself...”

“Because she’s your Ex. Eddie, I read your book. I know who Anne is.” Chuckled Brie. “I don’t mind attending with you, if that’s what you’re getting at.”

The day before the wedding Brie takes a ride down the coast with Eddie. They stop to get ice cream and take a walk down one of the piers.

“So, what are you wearing tomorrow?” Asked Brie.

“I haven’t quite decided yet.”

“I thought it would be nice if we wore something that complemented each other.”

“What were you planning on wearing?”

“I was thinking a mauve dress.”

“Mauve? Isn’t that purple?” Questions Eddie.

Brie laughs. “It can be considered that. But it’s a very fair, subtle purple. I’ll tell you what, just wear solid colors and I’ll handle the rest.”

“I’m trusting you. You know I gotta keep up appearances and look sharp.” He smirks.

Surprisingly, Brie took hold of his hand as they walked back to his bike and head back to their apartments.

Brie met Eddie at his place just as he was finishing getting dressed.

“It’s open!” He yelled after Venom inform him it was Brie knocking by her scent.

She walked in wearing a semi formal, tea length, very light purple dress with nude pumps. Eddie walked out of his bedroom tucking in his shirt and paused.

“Wow…”

“She looks….” Started Venom.

“Don’t say delicious.” Muttered Eddie.

“Beautiful.” Hummed Venom.

“You’re not wearing your glasses.” Pointed out Eddie.

“Contacts. I don’t go out often and I wanted to look extra pretty.”

“Either way I think you’re gonna show up the bride.”

“I brought you something.” She said, blushing at the compliment and placed a small box on the table. “I’m really glad you went with grey and white.”

He opened the box and found a mauve colored handkerchief and bowtie.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve had to dress this formal.” He admitted.

Brie pulled out the bowtie and helped him tie it before folding the kerchief and placing it in his jacket pocket.

“How do I look?” He said taking a step back and adjusting his blazer.

“Very dapper.” Smiled Brie.

“You two look great.” Said Anne, sneaking up behind Eddie at the reception as he got drink refills for him and Brie. “She got you to wear a bow tie? That woman has some kind of magic.”

Eddie blushes and Dan walks over.

“Glad you could make it, Eddie.”

“Yea, congrats, to the both of you. I mean it.”

“Who’s the young lady?” Questioned Dan.

“Just some girl he met that lives in his apartment building.” Anne mocked before Dan pulled her away to do a line dance.

“You dance?” Askes Eddie.

“No.” Brie shakes her head giggling at the idea.

“What? Oh man…”

“What?”

“I just put in a request with the DJ. It’s gonna look pretty silly sitting her with you when the song starts.”

“What song is that?” She asks. Edwin McCain “I’ll Be” starts playing and Eddie stands up.

“That’s my cue to ask you to dance.”

Brie blushes and takes Eddie by the hand as he guides her to the dance floor. He places his hands on her hips and she places hers on his shoulders.

“I’m warning you I have two left feet.”

“And I have two right, so we should be fine.” He jokes and Brie laughs. Without her glasses he could really see her face light up when she smiled. “I really appreciate you coming. I know we haven’t known each other that long…”

“I’m always up for a chance to hang out with you.” She flirted. “As a matter of fact, the Giants are playing the Red Sox next week, want to come over and watch the game?”

Eddie throws his head back and groans.

“I have made it a priority this season to convert you.” She pokes his chest.

“You got your work cut out then.” He smiled.

“I had a really good time.” Admitted Brie as she unlocked her apartment door. She turned back to look at him all dressed up. “You don’t clean up too bad.”

“Kiss her.” Urged Venom. Eddie wasn’t going to argue. He took a step closer to Brie and leaned in for a kiss. When he pulled away they were both smiling.

“Goodnight.” He whispered.

“Goodnight.” Said Brie, backing into her apartment. She locked the door behind her and rested her back against it as she processed the butterflies she felt after kissing Eddie.

“Why did you stop kissing?” Asked Venom.

“Because, when you like something, especially a girl, it’s better to do things in moderation.”

“Moderation…” Ponders Venom. “Like drinking…”

“Exactly, like drinking.”

“And jacking off.”

“Uh…yea…that should be done in moderation too.” Admits Eddie, awkwardly while entering the elevator.

Brie finished up the cover art for a book she was asked to do and headed out to grab some snacks for her and Eddie to have during the game. When she got back to her apartment all the bags fell to the floor when she saw who was waiting inside.

“Danny…” She gulped.

A man with light brown hair, cut close on the sides, unshaven, wearing a white tshirt and jeans sat back in a chair at her kitchen table. He stood up and approached her. She turned to open the door again, but he was behind her in just a few steps. He pushed the door closed and with it went Brie’s hope.

“I’ve missed you baby.” He whispered while pulling her hair back away from her face. She stood facing the door with her eyes closed trembling at his touch.

Eddie was a little upset when he got the text from Brie saying they would have to cancel the game. She said she had a stomach bug and hadn’t been able to keep much down.

“Looks like it’s you and me then tonight.” Said Eddie cracking open a beer.

“Why don’t we go make her feel better?” Suggested Venom.

“That’s not too bad of an idea. A little chicken noodle soup, maybe?”

Eddie took a ride and picked up some fresh soup for Brie. Her surprise overshadowed her fear when she cracked opened the door.

“Eddie…I…I sent you a message…”

“I got it. I just thought with you being sick you might want some soup.”

It was thoughtful and Brie appreciated it, but she was scared of Danny seeing Eddie. “You didn’t have to do that.” She heard Danny walking out of the bathroom in the bedroom. “I really need to go. Thanks.” She said before abruptly closing the door. Eddie stood there for a minute confused.

“You’re…welcome.” He said to the door.

“That was strange.” Said Venom. “I think there is someone inside…with her…a…man.” Hissed Venom.

“I think your being paranoid.” Said Eddie as he headed towards the elevator.

“Who was that?” Asked Danny.

“No one. Just a neighbor, bringing some soup by.”

“A neighbor, huh?”

Eddie heard a loud commotion coming from down the hall after entering the elevator. He held the door open and heard yelling. He stepped out and slowly made his way back down the hall until he was sure the noise was coming from Brie’s apartment. He knocked aggressively on the door and was surprised to see a man quickly swing it open.

“What?” He asked.

“Where’s Brie?” Asked Eddie.

“Who the fuck are you?”

Eddie tilted his head slightly and saw Brie standing by the kitchen island with her hand covering her face.

“I’d like to speak to her please.” Eddie tried not to sound angry but his body language was rigid and assertive.

“Fuck outta here.” Said Danny, slamming the door in his face.

“I want to eat this one, slowly!” Hissed Venom. “Pleeeaasse Eddie.”

“I just might let you, my friend.” He knocked one more time and heard a loud smack followed by a whimper.

“What?” Yelled Danny opening the door again.

“Either you let me in right now or things are gonna get ugly, and I mean out of this world ugly.”

Danny tried to slam the door again and Eddie put his foot in the doorway. When Danny threw open the door to take a swing at Eddie, he and Venom struck him hard in the chest sending him back three steps and then entering the apartment.

Brie was across the living room unsure of what to do. She knew Danny was crazy and she didn’t want Eddie to get hurt.

“Did I hear you hit her?” Asked Eddie.

Danny charged him slamming him into the countertop and punching him in his ribs. Eddie kneed him in his chest as the two men fell to the floor.

“Damn it, Danny! Stop!” Yelled Brie as she watched Danny repeatedly hit Eddie in the face. Eddie elbowed Danny who leaned back and pulled a switch blade from his pocket.

“Danny!” Yelled Brie again as she watched him stab Eddie in his shoulder. She covered her mouth to keep from screaming at the thought of him killing Eddie in her kitchen. Soon her fear became confusion.

“What the fuck?” Said Danny as a tar-like substance oozed out of the stab wound, around the blade and onto his hand. “What the fuck is this? What the fuck are you?”

Eddie rose to his feet as Venom’s form engulfed him.

“We told you things would get ugly.” Said Venom as he licked the side of Danny’s face just before eating him. He turned towards Brie who was standing behind a floor light gripping the stem out of fear. He transformed back into Eddie where he stood in the kitchen unsure of what to say.

“That…that…thing…in your book. The Symbiote…”

“That was one...a good one…” Eddie avoided any eye contact.

“He just ate someone…in my kitchen…”

“Uh…yea…he does that from time to time…”

“Only the bad ones.” Says Venom out loud.

“And…he…talks…”

“A lot.” Says Eddie. “Look, Brie…I’m…I’m really sorry about…umm…well, obviously I’m sorry you had to watch that, although he was really hoping to make that meal last longer.”

Brie let out a maniacal laugh. “Meal?”

She took a seat on the sofa trying to process what she just witnessed. Eddie slowly made his way to her hoping she wouldn’t kick him out and tell him to stay away from her.

“I was gonna tell you at some point.”

Brie rubbed the side of her face and closed her eyes. “Does it make me a bad person to be happy you ate him?”

“Well…I…I just want you to know ‘I’ didn’t eat him…that was all him.” Stutters Eddie, wanting to clarify.

“I didn’t move here from Bakersfield for work, although, I was lucky enough to find a really good job. Danny, was my ex-boyfriend. I moved here to get away from him.”

“I told you she was lying.” Boasted Venom.

“I put restraining orders on him, moved around, even lived in my car for awhile because I was too scared to settle in anywhere. He always seemed to find me.”

“You don’t have to worry about him anymore.”

Brie pulled her hand away from her face and the bruising was starting to settle in.

“You got any frozen peas or something?” Asked Eddie walking into the kitchen and opening up the freezer.

“Bottom left.” She informed.

Eddie brought over a small bag of frozen veggies and placed it on her cheek.

“Thanks. I was really looking forward to watching that game with you. He was here when I got back from the store. I don’t even know how he got in.”

“Let’s see,” Eddie looks at his watch. “If we’re lucky, we might be able to catch the last inning.”

Brie managed to pull off a smile and turns on the tv. After the game, the The Shinning comes on and Eddie hangs around to watch it with her. Eddie didn’t know when it happened, but Brie had dozed off next to him. She looked so peaceful considering she was laying against a man who harnessed an alien life form that ate her ex-boyfriend in her kitchen a few hours prior. He pulled away cautious not to wake her and eased her down onto the couch. Venom reached over onto a chair and handed Eddie a blanket to pull over her before quietly letting himself out. Venom slid an arm under the door and locked it behind them, in case she had another ex-boyfriend show up.

Eddie awoke the next day and went out for coffee. On his way back he grabbed a paper. The headline read “Archer Aeronautics, Seeking Heights Drake Could Not”.

Frank Archer was an aeronautical genius. He and Carlton Drake were both competing to find life on other planets. As far as he knew, from reading Eddie’s book, Drake had somewhat succeeded in finding life, but proved to be a failure in capturing and studying it. All anyone knew of the Symbiote lifeforms was they were parasitic and would die shortly after leaving their hosts. Archer, however, had a team sent in to Drake’s labs to gather as much information as they could on the lifeforms before the servers were wiped clean. He knew the coordinates to the planetary system Drake was studying and was anxious to find out more about the lifeforms that lived there.


	3. Chapter 3

When Brie woke, she looked around for Eddie and found he had left. She paused before walking into her kitchen, remembering what had happened the night before. She opened the fridge and pulled out some orange juice.

“Last night…didn’t happen…” She said as she took a sip of juice. When she walked into the bathroom to shower she saw the bruised side of her face in the mirror. “Last night…did…happen…”

“You're nervous, Eddie.”

“You must be psychic.” Said Eddie sarcastically.

“Is it about last night?”

“I'm starting to think eating her ex in her kitchen wasn’t such a good idea. Maybe we could have eased into telling her a little…smoother.”

“Hmmm…”

“What am I supposed to say the next time we run into each other? I mean, if we happen to be in the elevator, alone…what do I say?”

“I see your point…”

There’s a knock on the door and Eddie goes to answer.

“Brie…”

“Hi…Eddie…”

“We we’re just talking about you.” Says Venom loudly.

“Shut up.” Says Eddie.

Brie looks at him. “Can we talk?”

“Yea, come on in.”

“I woke up this morning from what I though was a really, fucked up dream, until I saw the bruises on my face and realized it was real. And I came to the conclusion that we really need to talk because if we’re going to keep seeing each other there are some questions I need answered.”

“You…you…want to keep seeing each…other…me…you still want to see me.”

“Stop stuttering Eddie and let her finish.” Said Venom extending his head and peaking from behind Eddie.

Brie's eyes stared for a moment before returning to what she was saying. “Yes, I still want to see you.” She walked over and took a closer look at Venom. “Does it…hurt?”

“No.”

“Can I…touch…it…?” She held up her hand and Venom tilted his head like a dog begging for a rub behind the ears.

“We are Venom.” He says with a toothy smile.

“You’re not going to eat me…are you?”

“No.” Inserted Eddie.

“No.” Emphasized Venom. “Although I am sure you would be delicious.”

Brie slowly retracted her hand.

“He’s joking…it’s…a compliment. He's not allowed to eat anyone unless he asks first.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“Dan and Anne are the only other two, and Ms. C, down at the corner store. He ate someone holding her up. Dan does routine checks to make sure there aren’t any negative effects having him bond to me.”

“So, he’s like a…”

“Don’t say it!” Yelled Venom.

“He doesn’t like being called the 'P’ word.”

Brie looked at Eddie and smiled. “It’s definitely an adjustment.”

“But a step up from old Danny boy.” Hissed Venom.

Eddie went to see Dan for a checkup after he and Anne returned from their honeymoon. Dan was surprised when he saw him, he was happier than usual.

“How was the honeymoon?” He asked.

“It was good. We went hiking in diamond head, soaked up some sun on the beach…”

“I thought you looked a little tanner.”

Dan watched Eddie kick his feet back and forth as he sat on the exam table with an undeniable perkiness.

“Are you…feeling alright Eddie?”

“I’m feeling great, Dan, thanks for asking.”

“We are in love.” Growled Venom.

“In love? Is it the girl from the wedding?”

“Yep.” Said Eddie.

“She is ours, you cannot have her!” Warned Venom.

“I am perfectly happy with Anne, Venom. What’s gotten into him?” Asked Dan.

“Eh, bad Chinese.”

Things between Eddie and Brie had continued progressing after she learned of Venom. They took turns watching baseball games at each other’s apartments and taking rides on Eddie's bike when they both had free time. Eddie was in the process of writing another book and she was prepping for the next comic book she was tasked to illustrate.

“Sorry I’m late.” Said Brie, carrying in a casserole dish of wings.

“You’re just in time, it just came on.” He said, taking the dish from her hands and pulling her close for a kiss. She reached over and popped the tentacle Venom was using to try and steal a wing.

“Ah! They’re still hot.”

He grumbled as he retracted from the dish.

“So how close am I to making you a Giants fan?” She asked half way through the game.

“I am a fan by default. Because I am a fan of you.” He flirts.

The game comes to an end with the Giants winning by two. Brie gets up to toss their plates and Eddie follows her into the kitchen to grab another beer. Brie grabs another wing and a glob of sauce drips onto her chest in the process. She laughs and reaches over for a paper towel.

“No, no, no. I got it.” Eddie said as he approached her, lowering his head, and seductively licking the sauce off her chest.

“Why is her heart beating so loudly?” Says Venom internally. “What did you do?”

“I think she likes it.” Smiled Eddie as he looked at Brie. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled his lips towards her. Eddie lifted her onto the counter and she quickly removed her shirt and tossed it to the side just as he did.

He pulled her legs around him and removed her from the counter. Eddie and Brie collapsed in the bed eager to get started.

Eddie could hear Venom growling in his head cheering him on.

“Umm…just…just give me a minute.” Eddie got up from the bed and walked into the bathroom to look in the mirror.

“Look, I am reeeally, looking forward to this, but it’s a little weird hearing you making sound effects in my head.”

“Sooo….”

“So, I need you to be as quiet as possible okay. Like you’re not even here. Got it?”

“Hmmm…got it.”

Eddie walked back out and saw Brie was already naked. He took a deep breath as he approached her on the bed.

“You okay?”

“Yep.” He said tracing a path down to her navel. He entered her body cautiously. He hadn’t been intimate with anyone since acquiring Venom and he was worried he would cum too soon. They were well underway as Brie felt Eddie’s hands caressing her skin.

“Um, Eddie…”

“Yea?”

“Is that your hands on my breast?”

Eddie looked at it. “Yea…”

“And your other one?”

They both looked to his hand that was propping him up.

Brie looks at him and gulps. “Whose hand is down there?” She and Eddie looked down between her legs and see a symbiotic tentacle teasing her clit.

“VENOM!” Yells Eddie. “Jesus! I am…I am so sorry...”

“No…Eddie…” She tried to call him down.

“What the hell were you doing?” Argues Eddie to Venom.

“Eddie! It’s fine.”

“What?”

Brie shrugs. “It’s…fine…come back…” She said motioning him back onto the bed. “It’s…kind of…I don’t know…different...”

Eddie slowly started to calm down. “You mean, you liked that?”

“I mean…I didn’t…NOT…like it. I just couldn’t figure out how you were doing it.”

“I…J don’t know…”

“Venom just needs to learn his place during times of intimacy.”

Eddie still stood beside the bed rubbing his head.

“Sorry.” Said Venom.

“Eddie…” Taunted Brie opening her legs. “I’m still waiting for you to land that homerun.”

“I will be in my place Eddie. Unless you need my help.” Says Venom.

“I think I can handle this inning on my own, pal.”

Eddie climbs back onto the bed between her legs and finishes out the game. Brie woke the next morning in Eddie’s bed with her head on his chest. She starts kissing on his neck to wake him.

“We can skip the foreplay, cause the morning wood is extra sturdy today.” He says pulling her on top of him.

“Good morning.” She says with a smile, before planting a kiss on his lips.

“I’ll take one more of those if you don’t mind.” He said pulling her head down to his again.

“I need to get going. I need a shower and I have to pick up a few manuscripts for a project.” She gets out of bed and starts slipping her clothes back on.

“You can shower here, I wash your back, you wash mine.”

“I’ll see you later.” She says putting on the last of her clothing.

“Tonight. Later tonight.” Calls out Eddie. “I’ll still be here, in bed, waiting for you.”

Brie laughed before blowing him a kiss from the bedroom door and heading out of the apartment. While out running her errands, Brie bumped into Anne. They both greeted each other.

“How’s it going?” Asked Anne.

“Great. Things are great.”

“How’s Eddie?”

“Fine. We hung out and watched the game last night.”

“You like the Yankees, too?”

“No, Giants. I’m working on converting him.” She joked.

Anne, having been a lawyer, was pretty good at reading people, which is why when she saw Eddie and Brie in the deli she was genuinely happy, because Brie was genuinely enjoying Eddie. Anne had once had that same look around him.

“It was nice seeing you again.” Said Anne, not wanting to hold her up any longer. “Tell Eddie I said Hi.”

“I will.”

Eddie laid in bed for a little longer after Brie left his place. He got up to shower and brush his teeth. When he was done he stayed staring into the mirror until Venom appeared.

“You don’t look too happy Eddie.”

“I would be a lot less happy had Brie ran out last night over that stunt you pulled.”

“I was just helping.”

“New rule. When me and Brie are…doing what we did last night…”

“You mean fucking?” Interrupts Venom.

“Being intimate.” Corrects Eddie. “I need you, to stay in your place. Got it?”

“Got it.”

“Thank you.”

“Can we have chocolate for breakfast?” Asks Venom.

“How about Coco Puffs?”

Brie dropped the manuscripts off at her apartment and worked on a few pages. Her mind kept wandering to Eddie the night before, and Venom’s awkward intrusion. She tapped her pen against her temple and bit her lip.

“Hello?” Brie sat up from her drafting table and answered her cell phone.

“Did I wake you?” Asked Eddie. “I thought we were going to watch a movie tonight.”

“What time is it?” Brie looked over at her wall clock that read 10:20. “Damn it. I’m sorry, I dozed off. I can be down in 10 minutes…”

“No it’s cool. We’ll do it another night. Anne and Dan actually invited us over Thursday for a game night, if you’re feeling up to it.”

“Sounds fun.” She said yawning and placing her head back down on the drafting table.

“Get some sleep. I’ll talk to you later.”

Anne answered the door when they arrived to game night. “Hey, I’m glad you two could make it. Dan was just setting up the food and refreshments.”

The night turned out to be more fun than expected. They started off with a game of Uno, then Taboo, and finished with Clue.

“In college we had to redesign a board game as part of a project, me and my partner did this one.”

“Really? How did you redesign it?”

“We changed it into a children’s game and based it off ‘Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?’.”

“Murder mystery to cookie thief.” Laughed Dan.

“Is that what you do? Design games?” Asked Anne.

“No, I do artwork for different media projects.”

“She just did a comic book not too long ago.”

“Comic book?” Dan looked surprise.

“It was pretty cool.” Said Eddie, shooting her an admiring glance. “She’s got a lot of talent.”

Brie blushed slightly and played her turn. “I know who it is. Scarlet in the hall with the axe.”

Dan opened the envelope. “You got it.”

“And how did you figure that out?” Say Eddie scratching his head confused.

“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.”

They all sat around after the game and chatted before finish in their drinks and leaving opting to do it again soon.

Brie got on the back of Eddie’s bike and they rode off back to their apartment building. She got off and removed her helmet.

“Were you trying to catch all the red lights?” She giggled while shaking out her hair.

“I just wanted to keep your arms around me a little longer.” He says putting his arms around her and giving her a quick kiss.

“You in a hurry to get to bed?” She asked.

“Depends…will you be joining me?”

“I was thinking about making up for that movie we missed the other night.” Smiled Brie.

“Sounds good to me. Under the condition you keep your arms around me until we get to my apartment.”

Brie wraps her arms around him from the back and follows him up to his place.

“Someone sure has been quiet.” Brie mentions, taking note of Venom’s awkward silence.

“He’s trying to give us space.”

“That’s sweet. How about some popcorn with our movie?”

“Extra butter.” Growled Venom as Eddie unlocked the door. Eddie looked back at Brie who sat on the couch grinning. Food was always a good way to coax Venom out of hiding.

Eddie gets up halfway through the movie to go to the bathroom, Brie pauses it. She gets up and walks to the hallway closet to get a blanket. When he gets back, she’s curled up underneath waiting to press play.

“You cold?”

“I was fine until you left me.”

“You naked under there?” Eddie slides his hand under the blanket and starts feeling for her clothes.

“No.” She laughs, kicking him away playfully. Brie gave him a sexy smirk and that was all it took for him to get under the blanket with her. She opened her legs, giving him a place to lay his body down. Brie placed one hand on his shoulder while the other pulled him down for a kiss. When he sat back up Brie’s sexy grin had faded.

“Eddie…” Brie nervously looked at him. He felt the side of his neck and pulled out a small tranquilizer dart. He looked to the window on his right where he thought it originated and 5 red beams were targeted on him. Before either could react, Venom emerged, flipping the couch where they were laying over onto its side, shielding them from the onslaught of bullets that came through the window.

“What’s going on?” Brie screamed.

“I don’t know. You have another boyfriend I should be worried about?”

“No!”

“I need to get you out of here.”

“You’re coming with me...”

“They’re obviously here for me, not you.”

The gunfire came to a halt.

“You need to go. Find Anne and let her know what’s going on.”

“What?”

“If I don’t make it to Anne’s…”

“What do you mean if you don’t make it?” Brie’s eyes were wide and worried. He wasn’t sure what was going on, but he wished she hadn’t been caught up in whatever it was. A grenade came through the window and he knew she had to move fast.

In what felt like seconds, Venom encased Eddie’s body, reached across the apartment to open the door and flung her out, just before the grenade went off. She watched the blast knock Venom off his feet. Brie hurried down the hall. The elevator was coming up from the first floor, she was certain it was whomever was after Eddie, so she turned to take the stairs. She could hear heavy footsteps quickly coming up the stairs as she entered the stairwell. The fire alarm echoed and blared through the building.

Armed men wearing black tactical gear with “ARCHER” patches repelled into the windows just after the grenade. Venom grabbed two of the men and tossed them right back out of the windows they came through.

Brie ran to her fourth-floor apartment and locked the door. Those men had to of been spying on her and Eddie and would more than likely be keeping an eye out for her, walking out of the front door wasn’t an option.

The men who went after Eddie were dealt with easily enough. Venom dangled the last of them in the air by his leg.

“Bravo team. Delta team is entering the 4th floor in search of target two.” Radioed a soldier.

“Brie…” Venom hisses and tossed the man to the side cracking his head on the kitchen island. Not wanting to risk being seen, Venom climbed out of the window and scaled the outside wall to Brie’s apartment.

Brie cracked her apartment door and spotted the men coming off the elevator. She immediately locked it and pushed a kitchen chair under the handle. Brie ran to the window and climbed onto the fire escape. The extraction team breached the door and found the apartment empty. One of the men peaked out of the window and spotted her.

“She's heading for the roof!”

Two men followed her on the fire escape and the rest took the stairs. Brie had been to the roof several times while painting. The building was connected to two others that were used for office space. If she could make it across the roof of the buildings she could use the fire escape on the last one to make it to the street away from the crowed streets surrounding the apartment.

She made it onto the roof just as the access door flung open. She ducked behind an air conditioning unit and tried to keep quiet.

“We know you’re up here Ms. Thompson. We’re here to help you. You've no reason to be scared of us…My name is Nathan Rice…”

Brie cautiously peered from around the unit trying to keep an eye on the men. She spotted six.

“She doesn’t need your help.” Said Venom climbing onto the roof. The men drew their guns at him.

“Sure she does. Does she know what your kind would do to her?”

“I am not like 'My Kind’. I am ‘One of a Kind’.”

“That’s not completely true now is it? There’s a whole planet of your kind out there.”

Another team of six made their way onto the rooftop and surrounded Venom. Brie took advantage of their interaction and slowly made her way to the other building. Just as she crossed onto the roof of the first adjoining building, she was spotted.

“Over there!”

Venom growled ferociously and went into a frenzy as several of the men chased her down. He bulldozed through the ones standing in his way as he tried to stop them from reaching her. Bullets were flying everywhere. One struck Brie in the shoulder just as she reached the fire escape. The impact caught her by surprise and she lost her grip on the railing. Venom impaled the soldier responsible for the shot and flung him out of his way.

“Throwing Concussion!” Yelled Rice, hurling the grenade. The men dropped down and shielded themselves from the blast. The loud “bang” had been reconstructed and intensified to disorient the Symbiote.

Venom stretches down grabbing Brie’s arm just as the sound echoed through the rooftops. He broke slightly away from Eddie as Brie began to slip.

“Go…” Groaned Eddie who was trying his hardest to maintain control of Venom, but he knew they wouldn’t both make it. Venom relinquished Eddie and Brie fell six stories into the ally.

Eddie stumbled to his feet as the men detained him. They looked down into the ally way and saw no sign of Brie.


	4. Chapter 4

She didn’t know how she survived the fall at first. The wind had been knocked out of her and her shoulder was bleeding.

“Get up! We must go!” Said Venom.

Brie jumped to her feet and looked around. “Venom….?”

“We must move!” She could hear his voice resonating in her head.

They made their way out of the ally and onto the street. A large crowd had gathered outside to see what was going on, allowing her to blend and get a safe distance away.

“I don’t remember how to get to Anne’s.” Brie was out of breath.

“Leave that to me. You are out of shape.”

“Excuse me?”

“We need wheels. That one.” Venom spotted a black BMW parked at a parking meter.

“I’m not stealing a car. I don’t know how to steal a car.”

“I do.”

Brie nervously approached the vehicle and noticed 2 tickets on the window.

“We are doing him a favor. It will be towed anyway.” Venom unlocked the door and Brie apprehensively got in.

“You know how to drive or do I have to do that too?”

“I can drive.” She responded with an attitude, just before pulling off. “Why did you leave Eddie?”

“He told me too. I couldn’t hold onto the both of you once that grenade went off. High pitch sounds waves are a weakness of mine.”

“So what are they going to do to Eddie?”

“Probably torture him. Turn left and make a right on Newton.”

Brie nervously gripped the wheel. She tried not to think about it but all she could do was picture Eddie bruised and bleeding on the floor of a basement somewhere.

“You are scared.”

“You're damn right.” She tried to fight back tears. She didn’t know what Anne and Dan could do to help. She just wanted to get there fast.

“Brie?” Anne knew when she saw her something was wrong. She pulled her inside and yelled for Dan.

Dan walked into the living room and saw Anne with Brie.

“What happened?” Asked Anne.

“Some men came for Eddie?”

“What?”

“Let me take a look at that shoulder.” Insisted Dan.

“She is fine.” Snapped Venom.

Anne and Dan looked at each other.

“You have Venom?” Asked Anne suspiciously.

Brie nodded. “He bonded to me just before they took Eddie.”

Dan noticed her hands trembling. “I’m going to get you a glass of water.”

“Who were the men?” Anne wanted to know exactly who was responsible.

“They had patches on their uniforms that said ‘Archer’.”

“Like…Archer Aeronautics?”

“Yea.”

Anne sighed. “After Carlton Drake died, someone raided his labs before officials got in. Venom wasn’t the only Symbiote that came back, but he was the only one who survived and successfully paired with a human. Drake knew Eddie had Venom, and we assumed that somewhere in the data that was stolen his name would come up.”

“They think Eddie still has Venom.”

“And when they find out he doesn’t…” Dan hands her the water.

“They’ll come for you.” Confirms Venom.

Eddie was tossed into a viewing room with his hands tied behind his back. He landed on his chest and rolled over.

“Appreciate it guys.” His sarcasm was raspy as he caught his breath.

Eddie looked around the empty lab surrounding his cell. A set of doors opened and out walked Frank Archer with two armed men, one was Rice.

“Rice tells me you put up quite the fight for him and his men.”

“You should have been there.” Smirks Eddie.

“I suppose we can skip introductions.”

“Your goons here just interrupted the very nice evening me and my girl were having, so excuse me for not giving a shit about introductions. You’re Frank Archer, I’m Eddie Brock, and that’s dickhead.” He gestures towards Rice. “We both know why I’m here so let’s cut the bullshit.”

“As anxious as I am to see you and the Symbiote in action I do believe it to be in the best interest of science to let you rest a bit.” He turned to leave.

“You mind turning the lights down a bit, it’s kind of bright in here.”

Arched turned off the lab lights but the lights inside Eddie's confinement remained on.

“So, what do we do?” Brie’s anxiety was getting worse, fidgeting and rocking, she worried about Eddie.

Anne grabbed Brie’s hand. She was just as scared for Eddie but she didn’t witness the event like Brie had. “Tomorrow…”

“Tomorrow?” Brie shot her a look.

“Hear me out. I have a contact that may be able to help us.”

“So, call him now.” Urged Brie.

“I will, I will call him tonight and let him know what is going on, but right now those men could very well be looking for you and if they haven’t figured it out by now, Venom too.”

“It’s safer to lay low for the night, Brie. Even if they know Venom is no longer paired to Eddie they still need him to learn why he has been able to successfully join with him.” Reassured Dan.

Anne walked Brie to the guestroom and brought her a change of clothes. Brie walked into the bathroom to shower. She removed her shirt and looked at her shoulder. It was healed for the most part, bruised and sore to the touch. “Did you do that?”

“We are one. And I cannot have you returning to Eddie in pieces.”

Brie stepped into the shower and closed her eyes as the water ran over her head, the whole chain of events played back. She slide down onto the floor and pulled her knees to her chest. Venom’s body emerged slightly from her and wrapped his arms around her. The human female was very complex. He was bombarded with emotions, making him feel weak, yet strong and determined.

Dan didn’t expect Brie to be awake so early. He usually got up around 5 A.M for his shift at the hospital. He caught a glimpse of her walking into the kitchen as he poured himself some coffee.

“You’re up, early. Did you manage to get some sleep?”

“A little.” She couldn’t be sure. “Why are you up?”

“Morning shift at the hospital. Coffee?”

“Please.”

Dan could tell she was up all night, her eyes were bagged and red, and her movement was slow and slumped. He placed the coffee down next to her and took a seat. He and Anne had a hunch someone would discover what Eddie is and come for him. Archer Aeronautics was huge and Frank Archer was loaded and we’ll protected, he wasn’t quiet sure what it was Anne had planned.

“Do you know the person Anne is talking about?”

“Yea. He was an intern for Carlton Drake.”

“Can he be trusted?” Dan's nod was less than convincing.

“I think so.” Anne walked into the kitchen and gave Dan a kiss on the cheek. “I spoke to him last night. He’s going to come by my office once he gets off work.”

Brie braided her hair and tucked it under one of Dan’s baseball caps to disguise herself on her way to Anne’s law office. As they drove down the street, Brie saw a police car investigating the BMW she stole from the night before.

“Don’t worry, they will find nothing.” Assured Venom.

“Mr. Mackenzie is in your office waiting for you Anne.” Said the receptionist on their arrival. Brie followed closely behind Anne as they stepped into her office.

“Hey Mack.”

“Sup.”

Brie looked at the man sitting in the chair in front of her desk and then back at Anne who gestured her to close the door and have a seat.

“You’re joking right? This is your contact?”

“Yea, this is Jacob Mackenzie.”

“Anne, he’s a kid!” Brie looked over the man.

“I’m 18.”

“Excuse me…a teenager…he can’t even walk into a bar how can he get us to Eddie?”

“Wrong actually.” He pulls out a fake ID and hands it to Brie.

“Clark Kent, age 30.” Reads Brie. “That’s rich.”

“Calm down Brie.” Urges Anne.

“If you want to get to your boyfriend back, you’re going to need me. Archer’s security clearance is pretty high tech. You’re going to need me to get you through the access points.”

“You can do that?”

“It’s not as easy as making a fake ID but I can get you in.”

Brie looks at Anne and then to Mack. “Why are you so willing to help?”

“I used to intern for Carlton Drake. I found out about some of his experiments and learned The LIFE Foundation was backed by a bunch of rich asshole elitist looking for an escape plan in the event of Armageddon.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Mack sent me information from the inside showing that Drake was receiving large monetary donations for a special program he was developing, it was one of the reasons the firm started looking into The LIFE Foundation. Basically, if you have the money and the world is going to end, he is offering you an all-inclusive trip to another planet to avoid destruction.”

“You’re joking.” Scoffed Brie.

“Eddie had a hunch that once Archer took over Drake’s facility that he might expand on what Drake was looking into, the Symbiotes.”

“I saw footage of what happened when they rejected their hosts. I’m all for finding life on other planets but I was hoping for something a little more E.T or Paul. I can have the cards ready by lunch tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” Brie’s anxiety started to kick back in.

“WE NEED THEM NOW.” Growled Venom and scared Mack out of his seat.

“Shit! That’s him isn’t it? The one that got loose?”

“They think he’s still bonded to Eddie.” Said Anne.

“Look, I don’t know anything about where they’re keeping him. Depending on his location in the building depends on the type of clearance you’ll need. It’s going to take me the rest of the day just to break through their firewalls and map out their systems.”

Brie didn’t like having to wait any longer, but it was the only choice they had. They made arrangements with Mack to have the ID cards delivered the following day no later than 12.

“Good morning.” Frank entered the lab eager to get things rolling. “I take it you slept well?”

“Great, I hope your security didn’t mind too much, I like sleeping balls out.” Eddie stretched as he stood to his feet. “You guys offer any room service or anything?”

“My apologies. Breakfast will be here for you shortly.” Archer walked over to a computer and started reviewing the security footage from the night before, wondering if Eddie may have tried to pull a stunt with the Symbiote to escape. A man pushed in a cart with a cover. “Just in time.”

Eddie stepped away from the door as the man pushed the cart into Eddie’s containment, quickly closing it after to keep him from escaping. Eddie approached the cart, his nose picking up a rancid smell that got stronger the closer he got. He pulled off the cover and found the cart was covered in chunks of human meat. He stepped away and started to gag.

“What the fuck!”

“Is it not appealing to you?” Questioned Archer.

“That? That’s not even…” Eddie started to gag as he caught a glimpse of the eyeball sitting on the intestine that was resting in a bowl. “It’s looking at me, it’s fucking looking at me.”

“I thought the Symbiotes required humans for sustenance?”

“Yea, the bad ones. Mine likes chocolate and tatter tots. Can we get that out of here, please?”

Archer looked at Eddie curiously. “Are you sure? He’s already dead, no need to let good meat go to waste.”

“Nah, I’m good. Maybe you can just get me a phone and I can order a pizza for later. Speaking of, do I get a phone call while I’m here?”

Archer grinned and pushed a button. A high-pitched sonic pulse echoed into the room for 10 seconds. When the pulse ended, Archers assumption was confirmed.

“It’s just you, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what your talking about.” Archer walked over to the door and ordered two soldiers to go into Eddie’s cell with him. The guards held him down and Archer grabbed a small butane torch. He held it to Eddie’s arm and pulled the trigger, igniting the flame on his skin.

“Fuck! What…what the fuck!” Eddie screamed as his skin blistered with the heat, charring around the edges that popped. Archer stopped and looked at him.

“Where is it?” He demanded. “Where is Venom?”

“I’m not telling you, you sick son of a bitch.”

Archer exited the lab to find Rice and tell him to start a search for the Symbiote, he was certain it would be with the girl.

Brie took a cab back to Anne and Dan’s place. She wasn’t feeling good and thought it would be best to try and get some sleep, seeing as how she didn’t have anything else to do. Venom would not stop fussing that they were losing precious time and she was starting to think it was him that was making it so hard for her to sleep.

“Can you shut up for 5 minutes? God, how does Eddie deal with you in his head all day?”

“I’ve rescued Eddie once before, I can do it again.”

“So, this isn’t the first time Eddie has been kidnapped?”

“No, he is very much a damsel in distress.”

Venom had managed to put a small smile on Brie’s lips. “I want to go after him just as much as you, but Anne is right. We need to get in and out without drawing too much attention, and right now I could use some Advil because you are giving me a major migraine.”

Brie walked into the bathroom hoping to find something to help ease her headache. She found a bottle of Excedrin and walked into the kitchen, popping a couple of capsules while she poured a glass of water. She chugged them back as the doorbell rang, when she went to answer it, she was met by two armed guards who fired two tranquilizers into her chest before she had a chance to realize what had happened.

Dan was on his way home for lunch to feed their cat when he saw two black SUV’s parked on the street in front of him and Anne’s building. He drove by slowly and saw them loading Brie into the car.

“Hello?” Answered Anne.

“They found Brie.”

“What? Who? Archer?”

“Yea, I was just on my way home to feed Mr. Belvedere and saw them putting her into a blacked-out SUV. I’m going to circle the block and come back around.”

“Ok, I’ll see if I can cut out of here early and call Mack.” Anne hung up the phone and sat back in her chair. “Damn it.”


	5. Chapter 5

“I want you to come with me.” Said Archer, opening the door to Eddie’s holding cell. Eddie was sitting with his back against the wall looking at his bandaged arm.

“Are you planning on cooking the rest of me?”

Archer stood in the doorway waiting in silence. Eddie got to his feet and followed him to another lab. They walked through two sets of double doors into a dark room. Archer flipped on the light and escorted him into another holding cell.

“You walked me 100 feet just to put me in another shitty room.” Archer locked him in and then punched a keypad that pulled up a screen dividing his cell from the one beside him. “BRIE!”

She was laying on the floor in the next chamber, still unconscious from the drugs. Archer walked over to her cell and pressed a button. Another loud sonic pulse echoed through the room, Brie’s body thrashed frantically as Venom struggled to maintain his grasp on his host.

“There it is.” Grinned Archer.

“Stop it! Or I swear to God I’ll rip your fuckin’ head off!” Eddie beat the glass.

Archer stopped the pulse and Brie rolled onto her side gasping for air, she caught a glimpse of Eddie and crawled over to the glass.

“Eddie…”

“Brie, honey, I’m so, so, sorry.”

“The Symbiote seems to be having a harder time reaching equilibrium with you. We ran a few tests on you while you were out. It’s still impressive you’ve been able to maintain control this long.”

Archer projects video footage on a nearby wall from Carlton Drake’s archives of the original specimens killing their hosts.

“I would not do that to you, although he is right. We are not a compatible match. If I stay with you much longer you will become very ill.” Whispered Venom.

“That would have been nice to know earlier.” She muttered.

“This was only supposed to be temporary…”

“We can extract the Symbiote one of two ways. Obviously, one will be easier than the other.”

“Why don’t you open the door and I’ll hand him over?”

“Very funny.” Archer opened a hatch and slid in a container.

“He can’t live without a host, you’ll kill him.” Brie looked at the container. How ironic that it looked like the shoebox you’d burry your dead pet cat in.

“He's the last of his kind on Earth. I wouldn’t dare.”

Brie suddenly felt weak, like the weight of the world suddenly decided to pull her under. She braced herself against the wall as black slime oozed down onto her shoes and Venom found his way into the container which sealed automatically. Archer pulled the container back through the hatch and locked it once more. Brie looked pale and feverish as she slid down onto the floor.

“I’ll have some supplements brought to you. You should recover in a few hours from the separation.” He said as he exited the lab with Venom.

Eddie kneeled beside her on the other side of the glass. He knew exactly how she felt. Before he and Venom fully bonded there were a lot of kinks they had to work out, mainly involving Venom’s diet. She looked over at him and pulled off half a smile. She was happy he was okay, although it was clear he had been worked over.

“You look like shit.” She joked and Eddie laughed.

“Yea? Well for someone who looks like they’re going to drop dead any minute, you’re still a looker.”

Brie shook her head and laughed lightly. “I don’t know how you do it. I was with him for two days…”

“It was rough on me too.”

“I’m talking about the talking. He almost never shuts up.”

Archer gave Venom a variety of host to bond with, starting off with smaller organisms ranging from mice and rats, to rabbits and monkeys, and eventually two human host. Archer had enough money and pull in government that he could easily of had a dozen prisoners taken from the local jailhouse to be used for experimentation. Instead he opted for two who had no ties to family or society that were in pristine shape. They were written off like livestock from the record books and sent to his facility.

Venom didn’t bother trying to pair with them. He maintained enough of a bond that he could entertain Archer and buy Anne some time.

“Your species is quite extraordinary. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourselves?

“We are destruction.”

“That’s not true. Sure, there were a few bad apples in the batch that came here, but you were okay.”

“I am a mutation of my species. I do not seek a host for the slaughter.”

“You want to keep your host?”

“Yes. My species insists on feeding off a host until it becomes weak and inadequate for our nutritional needs and then we eat them.”

“How many of you are there?”

“Thousands. We could decimate your planet in weeks.”

“How do you breed?”

“Bend over and I will show you.”

Archer chuckled. “You sound like your host.”

“We are the perfect match.”

“Indeed.”

Brie was feeling better after a medic came in and got her some fluids. “So, what’s this all about?”

“Archer wants Venom to show him where his planet is. He wants to bring back more of his kind to study.”

“Because that worked out so well for Drake.” She muttered sarcastically. “If we’re lucky Anne will have help by tomorrow.”

“I want you to know, if I would have known this was going to happen, I never would have asked you out and got you caught up in all of this.”

Just to be safe, Dan met Anne at a hotel a couple of blocks away from their place. Anne called Mack to let him know there was going to be a change of plans and that she needed those clearance cards immediately and that Brie was now out of the picture. Later that evening, there was a knock on the door of their hotel room.

“Hi, would you like to buy some girl scout cookies?” Said a little girl with a green sash and hat.

“No thanks sweetie.” Anne smiled and began closing the door, but the little girl shoved her foot between the gap.

“I insist. My brother LOVES the peanut butter ones.” The girl had a very intimidating look, so Anne took her advice and gave the girl $6 for a box of cookies. “Pleasure doing business with you.”

“What kind of girl scout sells cookies in April?” Asks Dan.

Anne opened the box and found it devoid of cookies and containing their clearance badges.

“Charming little sister of yours.” Says Anne while on the phone with Mack. He got tied up at work and had his little sister pick up the badges and bring them to her.

“Yea, she can be pretty persuasive if she needs to be. I did what I could with the second photo, but it’s not perfect.

Mack had taken close up photos of Anne and Brie after their meeting to put on the badges, but now it was up to Anne and Dan, so she gave him a cropped photo of them on their honeymoon with a floral beach shirt. It was the only one she could find where there wasn’t anything obscuring his face. 

The plan was for Anne and Dan to present themselves as VIP donors visiting Archer and checking out his labs. Mack was going to follow them through the facility using security cameras and in the event of their plan backfiring, creating a diversion to help them escape.

“Relax.” Anne could tell Dan was nervous as they pulled up to the facility and handed their badges to the gate guard for verification.

“I am as relaxed as I can be going into a facility where a man has kidnapped two of our peers, including one DIRECTLY from our house.”

“Just follow my lead.” She said as she parked.

“IDs please?” Asked the security guard at the lobby entrance. “What’s your business here?”

“Dr. Dumont and I are here tour the facility’s labs.”

“Which lab?” Questions the guard.

“All of them.”

The guard took a double take of their badges. “Casual Friday?”

“It was an office party, Luau.” Dan tried to explain the tropical attire in the photo.

“Look, Mr. Dumont here has invested a lot of money in Mr. Archer’s exploration program. It’s been a long day and I’m sure he would like to speak with Mr. Archer promptly before deciding on whether or not to keep funding the program.”

The guard looked the two of them over and let them through.

Archer returns with Venom and a couple of guards, including Rice, who opens Brie’s cell and yanks her to her feet. She pulls away and he grabs a handful of her hair while unholstering his gun and pointing it to the bottom of her chin.

“Let her go!” Eddie slammed his hands against the glass at the sight of Rice’s smirk.

Archer slid the container housing Venom into Eddie’s containment.

“You sure you want to do that?” Eddie looked at Archer intensely.

“If you so much as give Rice the impression that you’ll try something stupid he has permission to shoot her in the head.”

“I have a twitchy trigger finger.” He warned.

Eddie pressed a button on the side of the box releasing Venom who didn’t hesitate to bond to his favorite host.

“I’m going to bite his head off and savor it’s flavor.” Hissed Venom.

“Which of these planets belongs to your kind?” Asked Archer, revealing a map of the planetary system where he was from.

“What makes you think I will give you the right planet?”

Rice released a round in the chamber with Brie and then placed the hot barrel against her neck again. She tried not to scream as it seared the skin. Venom roared.

Anne and Dan stopped in their tracks, the sound of the gunshot echoed into the main lab. Two guards appeared and they ducked behind a set of servers while they passed by, followed by Archer, Rice and Brie.

“Send the coordinates to the Apparition shuttle craft immediately. They can make it there in three days time.” Ordered Archer to one guard. “Take her down to Level 3. If it turns out he’s lying we’ll kill her.”

The last guard followed Rice with Brie down to level 3 while Archer punched in a security code, locking down the wing of the lab. When the coast was clear Anne and Dan made their way through in search of Eddie. There was a loud thumping noise coming from deeper inside the lab where they found Venom clawing and beating on the glass.

“Eddie.” Called out Dan.

Venom turn excited to see him and Anne coming to his aid. “Dan! Anne! Let me out of here. I need to find Brie and bite off the head of Archer and Rice!”

“They’ve taken her down to level 3. But he locked down the unit, once you leave the lab alarms are going to sound.”

“Let me try and get in touch with Mack, maybe he can do something about that.” Anne texts Mack who had been hiding in her car.

“Need help, locked down in lab. Can you silence alarms?”

“I can try.”

While Mack was inside Archer’s systems, he decided to do some searching around in his servers, downloading as much incriminating information as possible. He was able to bypass the main alarm to the labs, but overlooked the secondary silent alarm that signaled the security desk. Dan released Venom from his chamber and he immediately took off.

“You two need to leave now. It’s is going to be a real shit show.”

“We’ll meet you and Brie down at the Sip N’ Go.” Informed Anne.

They fled the lab, and although the alarm didn’t sound off the emergency lights began to flash.

“Fuck.” Mack immediately called Anne. “Hey, I think there was a secondary system set up.”

“You think?” She said as security guards came walking down the hall.

“I’ll fix it.”

“No time.” She said as her and Dan took off running down the hall into a stairwell.

Mack bypassed a few more systems triggering the fire system and setting off the alarm and sprinklers. Anne and Dan made it down to the lobby that was full of guards.

“I got an idea.” Said Dan, pulling his shirt up over his nose. Anne followed his lead.

Dan began coughing as soon as they enter the lobby. “There was a gas leak in the lab. You need to get everyone out of here now.”

“Just a minute…” The guard who questioned their credentials when they first walked in wasn’t so sure about their story, but he didn’t have time to interrogate them after an explosion sounded in the building. 

Just as quickly as Rice realized he would be Venom’s first target he was face to face with the Symbiote. Venom burst through a door into the hall where he was waiting and slowly crept down towards him. Rice watched as Venom dissipated and Eddie was revealed.

“One-on-one?” Scoffed Rice.

“This is personal.”

Rice tossed his gun onto the floor and held up his fists. Eddie was in good physical shape and visited the boxing gym twice a week during his down time, he wasn’t scared to go toe to toe in a fist fight.

Archer called down to the security desk to lockdown the facility too late. Anne and Dan had already made it out and were waiting in the car at the Sip N’ Go with Mack.

Rice got Eddie up against the wall and laid into his ribs, just before leaving an opening for Eddie to deliver a right hook, rocking Rice and knocking him back. Eddie followed up capitalizing on his stunned opponent. He stopped once he was bloodied and beaten allowing Venom to appear once more. He pulled Rice up into a seated position. And held out his arms to biting off it “Twitchy” hand before biting off his head. He searched the floor for Brie and began to panic. Level three was where they kept freezers full of the cadavers from their failed experiments.

“Brie!”

She could hear him faintly. “Eddie! I’m in here!”

Eddie found the only freezer that wasn’t in use and opened it to find Brie on the ground with her hands tied behind her back. He quickly untied her and she turned to slapped him. 

“What has that for?” He yelled.

“I don’t give a damn if you knew this was going to happen or not, don’t you EVER say you regret asking me out.”

“O…kay…” Eddie didn’t realize his comment in the lab had upset her so much.

“I could have left at any moment after learning about Venom, and I didn’t.”

“You’re right.”

“Well?”

Eddie looked at her confused. He wasn’t sure what else it was she wanted from him.

“Are you going to kiss me?”

“Yea…I was getting there…I just didn’t want to cut you off during your…” Before he could finish Brie kissed him, something she wasn’t sure she would ever be able to do again.

Venom got Brie to the first floor and knocked out a section of wall for her to escape.

“Where are you going?” She asked realizing he wasn’t coming with her.

“To stop Archer. My species cannot come here. They would destroy all life on this planet. I will return Eddie to you in one piece.” Assured Venom. Brie stood on her tippy toes and gave the viscous Symbiote a kiss on the cheek before heading off the grounds. All security personnel were inside the building searching for Venom. But their resistance was weak against him and he finally made his way to Archer who was boarding a helicopter on the roof of the building. Just as it began to take off Venom wrapped a tentacle like appendage around the landing frame throwing the aircraft off balance. Venom pulled himself into the cockpit and snapped the neck of the pilot. Before taking a seat next to Archer who realized he had reached the end of the line staring face to face with the toothy Symbiote.

“You have no idea what your species and mine could accomplish if we just work together.”

“My species would devour all of humanity in a matter of months, maybe even weeks. You are a source of food.”

“You don’t know that. You yourself are here living peacefully.”

“I am not like my kind. I am one-of-a-kind.” Venom licked his lips before taking a big bite out of Archer, cutting him in half and then jumping out of the helicopter.”

Brie found Anne and Dan’s car and quickly jumped in.

“Where’s Eddie?” Asked Anne.

“Taking care of Archer.” A loud explosion took place inside the building and they all turned. Anne screamed when Eddie came beating on her window yelling to start the car. He jumped in beside Brie and took a deep breath as they pulled off. They dropped Mack off at his house and then found a hotel on the outskirts of town to lay low for the night.

Brie wouldn’t stop peeking out the window paranoid Archer’s men were outside waiting to storm their room. Eddie walked out of the bathroom after running the shower and tried to calm her down.

“We’re good. He’s gone along with all the servers holding information on me and the Symbiotes.”

“I can’t stop shaking right now.”

He put his hands on her shoulders. “Go shower.”

“Come with me.”

Brie rested her head against Eddie’s chest as the water ran over their bodies.

"Is it bad that I really want to pick up where we left off at my apartment?"

"I guess that makes two of us."

Eddie eased Brie against the wall of the shower and began kissing her, she lifted her leg and wrapped it around him as his hand explored the heat between her legs. He bent down to lift her up and she wrapped her legs around him as he eased inside of her.

She fell asleep shortly after they got out of the shower and Eddie walked over to Dan and Anne’s room. Dan opened the door to let him in.

“Everything okay?”

“Yea, yea, everything’s good, Brie just fell asleep. I wanted to see how you guys were doing and say thank you.”

“What else could we do? Call the police? I got to admit, it was quite the adrenaline rush. But I think I prefer the Emergency Room.”

Two months later…

Brie and Eddie moved into a new uptown apartment together. Brie was showering while Eddie kept an eye on the food on the stove.

“I love it when Brie cooks.” Says Venom.

“You and me both, my friend.”

“She is what you would call ‘wife material’ is she not?”

Eddie shrugs. “Yea…I guess. What are you getting at?”

Eddie sampled a spoonful of the chili Brie was cooking.

“We should give her a baby.”

Eddie started coughing uncontrollably as Brie walked into the kitchen.

“Are you okay? Did I make it too hot?”

“No…no…wrong pipe.” He cleared his throat and took a second look at her. Venom was right about one thing, Brie was definitely someone he could see himself marrying. There was a knock on the door and he shook the thought away as he went to answer it.

“Mr. Brock.”

“Mack, what’s up?”

“Can I come in?”

Eddie opened the door and Brie greeted him from the kitchen.

“I’m supposed to turn these files over to some federal agents in an hour.”

“Why are you here, kid? You trying to threaten me?”

The two sat in silence staring each other down for a moment before Mack wiped all the files pertaining from Eddie from the hard drive.

“Your secrets safe with me. Unless you go rogue.”

“If I do, you will be the first person I visit.” A view of Venom appeared behind Eddie, startling Mack.

“Leave him alone.” Said Brie, tossing a kitchen rag at him.

“Whoa…”

“Thank you.” Said Eddie.

“I figured it would only cause more problems for you…the both…the three…of you. And if your not harming anyone…what’s the point.” His eyes never left Venom. “I should probably get going.”

Brie walked him to the door and let him out. “Stay out of trouble.”

“I will.”

“The food was great babe.” Eddie gave Brie a kiss on the cheek and cleared the table.

“Delicious.” Added Venom.

“Better than a human head?”

“Hmmm…a close second.”

“I have something for you…the both of you.” Brie walked into the room she used as an art studio and came out with a medium sized canvas. She turned it around to reveal a comic styled painting of Venom and Eddie.

“That is BAD ASS!” Venom was super excited and grabbed it from her hand.

“Now that’s cool. I think we should hang it in the bedroom, right above the bed.”

Brie laughs. “No. Definitely not.”

“What? Scared you’re going to knock it down when you’re taking advantage of me?” Eddie places the painting down on the table.

“You like it.” Teases Brie.

“I love it.” He says with a kiss. “And I love you.”

“Mmm, how much do you love me?” She wraps her hands around his torso.

“Enough to hear wedding bells.”

Brie looked at him blankly. “Are you serious?”

“Yea…I mean…I’m not proposing right now…I’m…I'm just saying the thought’s crossed my mind.”

“Not saying I’d say ‘yes’…but your odds are pretty high.” She admitted, playfully blushing at the idea of Eddie proposing.

“What kind of ring would increase my odds?”

“The ring doesn’t matter.”

Eddie let’s her go and leaves her stranded in the kitchen while he goes into his desk and rummages around. He walks back over and drops down on a knee.

“Brie Thompson, will you marry me?”

“Is that a peach ring?” She laughed as Eddie held up the circular gummy candy.

“They get stuck in Venoms teeth, it keeps him quiet for a few minutes.” Eddie took her hand and slid the candy on her finger.

“Yes.” She giggled.

Eddie picked her up and kissed her. “I want you to know this is just a practice run. The real thing will be much better.”

The playful moment is cut short when Eddie’s phone rings. It’s the warden from Riker’s Island Prison.

“Mr. Brock? I was hoping to speak to you about doing an interview with one of our inmates out here at the prison. Normally, I wouldn’t entertain the idea of something like this but I’m hoping it may lead to some answers in some pending investigations we have going on.”

“Who’s the inmate?”

“It’s Cletus Cassidy. He’s requested you specifically…”


End file.
